How many times have we heard or even said ourselves, “I may have thought it, but I didn’t say it?” We think somehow that it’s okay if the bad comment doesn’t come out of our mouths. The Bible has a lot to say about our thought life too.

It matters as much to God what we think as it does what we say. I know that millions of thoughts run through our minds every day and that Satan sneaks in bad ones as often as he can but learning what the Bible says will help us combat his efforts.

Let’s look at just a few ways that God tells us to deal with our thought life.

• Think on good things. Philippians 4:8 tells us to think about what is true, just and pure, etc. The more good things we put into our minds, the less room there is for the bad.
• Have a mind that is at peace. Many of our bad thoughts come when we focus on our circumstances. Isaiah 26:3 tells us that if we focus on God that he will keep us in perfect peace.
• Take every thought captive. The wrong kind of thoughts will enter our mind because we are human, but we don’t have to let them stay there. The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to take our thoughts captive and to bring it in obedience to Christ. We need to learn to do this immediately as soon as we realize that our thoughts are contrary to God’s will.
• Ask for help. The psalmist applied this principle in Psalm 139:23 when he asked God to search him and know his heart and his thoughts. God wants to help us keep our thought life in check.

If we are honest, we will admit that many of our thoughts do eventually end up coming to our mouth, so we need to deal with them in the beginning stages. God has given us so many blessings to ponder. Let ’s not waste time on Satan’s agenda.

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14) (NIV)